Dry chip sprayer



Feb. 2l, 1967 C, E, JOHNSON 3,305,140

DRY CHIP SPRAYER Filed MaICh 26, 1965 I5 Sheets-Sheet l Ig-V N j "d, LD

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` INVENTOR.

CLARIS E. JOHNSON ANS Feb. 2l, 1967 c. E. JOHNSON DRY CHIP SPRAYER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 26, 1965 FIG. 5

FIG. 9

INVENTOR. CLARIS E. JOHNSON FIG. 2

" NEYS Feb. 2l, 1967 c, E. JOHNSON DRY CHIP SPRAYER Filed March 26, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet ATTORNEYS 3,305,140 DRY CHIP SPRAYER Claris E. Johnson, 3701 Washington, Blvd., Ogden, Utah 84403 Filed Mar. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 443,006 Claims. (Cl. 222-193) This invention relates to machines for spraying dry chips into a binder material that has been previously coated on objects such as oors, walls, and the like.

Other machines have been developed for the purpose in the past. Some of these are shown in U.S. Patents Numbers 2,187,376, 2,341,036, vand 2,391,048, but it has been my experience that machines of the several types shown in such patents are not satisfactory. This is especially true when the binder material is a liquid plastic having poor adhesive properties and when the chips are dry plastic or metallic particles that vary considerably in both size and weight and that tend to adhere to one another and to form clumps.

These previously known spraying machines have proven unsatisfactory because they do not uniformly dispense the chips on the area being sprayed at a controlled rate. Furthermore, they do not provide adequate means to vary the volume of air and application pressure. As a result the chips frequently bounce off the surface to which they are applied, and the impinging air stream distorts the binder coat previously applied to the surface.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a dry chip sprayer that separates land uniformly dispenses dry chips in such a manner that they rmly adhere to a binder material without the carrying air supply dist-orting the surface to which the chips are applied.

Further objects are to provide |a chip sprayer that will evenly distribute a supply of chips, even though the vol- 3 ume of chip material available in a supply tank of the sprayer will vary as the chips are distributed, and to provide for such distribution when either manual or automatic controls are used.

In accomplishing these objects I utilize a conventional source of air under pressure and means to regulate the volume and direction of application of the air into a chip 4receptacle that is specially designed so that the entering air will gently agitate the chips therein. Regard-less of the volume of chips in the tank, they are picked up by the 'air and carried in the continuous pre-mixed, size and Weight ratio to a vaned distribution nozzle. The nozzle further insures uniform application of chips onto the area sprayed, at a reduced velocity so that the chips will properly adhere to the binder surface.

There are shown in the accompanying drawings specific embodiments of the invention representing what are presently regarded as the best modes of carrying out the generic concepts in actual practice. From the detailed description of these presently preferred forms Iof the invention, other more specific objects and features will become apparent.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing tlhe general assembly of the dry chip sprayer;

FIG. 2, a side elevation of one form of chip tank, partially broken awlay to show the positions of the manually controlled air inlet and discharge ports;

FIG. 3, a top plan view of the chip tank of FIG. 2, with the -lid removed;

FIG. 4, a vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of lFIG. 3, but revolved 180 for clarity;

FIG. 5, a side elevation, |with the control valve partially cut-away to show its interior details in the open position;

FIG. 6, another cut-away side elevation view showing the control valve in its closed position;

3,305,140 Patented Feb. 2l, 1967 FIG. 7, a side elevation of one form of a distributing nozzle, partially broken away to show its interior details;

FIG. 8, an end elevation of a typical manually operated air inlet cover for the air inlet ports;

FIG. 9 a side elevation View showing the same cover;

FIG. 10, a view like FIG. 2, but showing another embodiment of chip tank that includes an automatic control for the air inlets;

FIG. 1l, a vertical sectional view taken yon the line 11- 11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12, a partially cut-away, greatly enlarged, side elevation of another form of distributing nozzle; and

FIG. 13, a similar view of still another form of nozzle.

Referring now to the drawings:

In the preferred embodiment the dry chip sprayer includes a source of air under pressure. As illustrated, the source comprises a readily available commercial type electrical'ly powered vacuum cleaner 10, mounted on a platform 11, that for ease of mobility is fitted with wheels 12.

A special tank 13 is also mounted on platform 11 and serves as a receptacle for the dry chips to be sprayed.

Air from the `discharge opening of the vacuum cleaner 10 is supplied through a hose 14 and a control valve 15 to a header 1,6, FIGS. 2-4, positioned within tank 13. The air is then directed through one or more of the nozzles 17, 18, and 19 of header 116 that comprise an inlet port means for the tank, toward the curved interior surface of the tank, and out of the tank through a discharge vent 21 forming an entrance to a discharge port from the tank, hose 22, and distributing nozzle 23.

The volume of air that is supplied tank 13 is regulated by squeezing trigger 24 and handle 25 to pivot the trigger toward the handle. Cable 26 is connected to trigger 24 so that such squeezing will pull the cable through -its cable housing 27, thereby moving a slide 28 that is connected to the other end of the cable to close an exhaust opening 29 of the control valve 1S. When the trigger is released the slide is moved away from exhaust opening 29 by a spring 30 that interconnects slide 28 and an upstanding bracket 31 xed to one of a pair of collars 32 surrounding h-ose 14. `Collars 32 yare anchored to platform 11 by screws 33.

When trigger 24 is released and exhaust opening 29 is uncovered air from vacuum cleaner 10 is diverted upwardly by a battle 34, FIG. 5, formed in the valve, and is exhausted -to the atmosphere. -If the opening is closed, however, the air will pass over baille 34 and enter tank 13, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6. Obviously, the -amount of pressure applied to trigger 24 will control the extent of opening of exhaust port 29 and the proportiona ateamounts of air that will be diverted to atmosphere and passed into the tank.

Referring again to FIGS. 2-4, air enters tank 13 through an inlet opening 35 of header pipe 16 Iand is directed by one or more of the nozzles 17, 18, and 19 to- 'ward and around the curved interior surface of lining 20'.

The lining is curved downwardly away from the Walls of t-he tank to a low point adjacent the lower nozzle 19, with the surface forming a smooth transitional curve from the low point up to the vent 21, and around the inside of the tank from the nozzles to the vent.

Nozzles 17, 18, and 19 are provided with covers 37, FIGS. 8 and 9, that are xed on rods 38 extending through the nozzles. The covers include curved plates 39 that are fixed to rods 38 and that are adapted to be swung into a position substantially blocking their respective nozzles. Each rod 38 is tightly journalled through lining 20 and a gromrnet 40 in the wall of the tank, and terminates in an operating handle 41 outside the tank by which the rod is rotated to position the curved plate. The tight fit between each grommet 40 and its associated Yings `of inlet nozzles rod 38 provides a frictional resistance that maintains the cover connected to the rod in any set position.

Vent 21 has an elongate mout-h 42 that rests fiat against surface 36 such that chips carried by the air stream as it follows the contour of lining 20 will be directed into the mouth. From the mouth the vent converges tow-ard an outlet opening 43 to which hose 22 is attached.

In operation, tank 13 is filled with mixed dry chip material, such as solid plastic or metallic chips of varying size and weight, and the vacuum cleaner 10 is turned on. Trigger 23 is squeezed and slide 2S is moved to close, or partially close, port 29, thereby directing air into tank 13. When the tank is full, or substantially full, nozzles 18 and 19 are closed by manipulating their associated handles 41 to pivot their covers 37 into position blocking the nozzle openings. The entering air must then pass through the upper nozzle 17 to gently agitate the separate the chips in the upper part of the tank. If, after the volume of chips in the tank has decreased, fewer chips are picked up by the air stream, upper nozzle 17 is closed and one or both of the nozzles 18 and 19 are opened to direct the air supply into the remaining chips. If chip volume is very low it may -be desirable to close nozzle 18, thereby leaving only nozzle 19 open to direct a maximum volume of air toward the low point in the tank.

After passing through outlet opening 43 the chip entrained air passes through hose 22 and distributing nozzle 23 onto the surface being sprayed.

Nozzle 23 includes` vanes 45 that separate particles that 'have clumped together following the agitation in the tank and directs the chips uniformly throughout the sprayed area. An enlarged opening 46 at the discharge end of the nozzle directs the air stream toward the surface to -be sprayed and decreases air stream and particle velocity.

As the chips are agitated in tank 13, those that are not picked up and carried by the air stream are deposited back on the curved interior surf-ace where they slide down into position to again be agitated, until all of the chips in the tank have been distributed at a uniform rate.

In FIGS. 10 and 1l, there is illustrated another form of chip tank, 47, that includes the sametype of curved liner 4S as .has been disclosed in connection with tank 13 above. In this embodiment, however, no header pipe is employed, and automatic control apparatus is used to regulate flow through the plurality of inlet orifices 49, 50, and 51. The upper edge of the liner is completely sealed to the tank at 52 and air entering the tank from hose 14, and intake opening 52a is directed through upper inlet nozzle IS1 or through the inlet nozzles 49 and 50. The inlet nozzles are preferably carried by a backing member 53 that is cemented to the back side of liner 48 and extend through the liner where they are directed toward the curved interior surface in the manner previously disclosed. Also, as in the previously disclosed embodiment, a vent 54, having a wide elongate mouth, is positioned to receive particle entrained air and to direct it toward la distributing nozzle.

The xautomatic control for orifices 49, 50, and 51, consists of an elongate plate 55 that is mounted on backing member S3 and that overlies the intake openings of the inlet nozzles. Plate S is bent at 56 between upper nozzle 51 and middle nozzle 50 such that the portion of plate 55 overlying nozzle .51 is angled away from the backing -member when the plate rests on the intake open- 49 and S0. If desired a gasket, not shown, can be positioned beneath t-he edge of plate 55, and under bend 56, to better seal off flow through the nozzles when the plate rests on them. Hooks 5S at opposite sides of plate 55 extend over the plate at the bend and provide an axis about which the plate can pivot.

A liexible wire 59 is fixed to the fupper end of plate S5 and extends through upper nozzle 51 and inside the tank where a weight 60 is affixed to its opposite end.

When the tank iS .filled with chip material weight 60 is lifted and the weight of the portionV of the plate 55 that covers the intake openings of inlet nozzles 49 and 50 is sufficient to pivot the plate into sealing engagement with these nozzles.

After the tank has been filled the weight 60 is set on top of the chip material, with anchor 60a inserted into the chip material to keep the weight from being blown around inside the tank by the entering air.

Air entering through intake opening 62a into the space between the tank and the liner can then only pass through nozzle 5l, the .air itself acting on plate 55 to hold it tightly against the intake openings of inlet nozzles 49 and 50. However, when the level of the chips falls, so:`

that the weight 60 pulls on plate 55, the plate will pivot to close nozzle 51 and to open nozzles 49 and 50. Thus, the chips are continually picked up by the air stream and carried out vent S4 to a distribution nozzle.

In either illustrated embodiment the air stream gently agitates and separates the particles before picking them up .and carrying them through an outlet vent to a distribution nozzle, and if the chips having varying sizes and weight are thoroughly mixed when they are placed in the tank they will be entrained by the air and continuously distributed in the same mixed size and weight ratio. The lighter particles will not be distributed before the heavier ones, or vice versa.

The enlarged outlet opening of the distributing nozzle governs chip velocity and determines thev pattern to be sprayed on the surface area to be covered. The details of this nozzle will vary, depending upon the distance between the nozzle and the surface to be sprayed and theV nature of the surface.

For normal operations the distributing nozzle 23 illustrated in FIGS. l and 7 has proven highly satisfactory, Because of its gradual flared configuration, Aand the dividers in its outlet nozzle 23 separates the chips but maintains them in a sufficiently close group that they will carry over a rather long range before being deposited in an evenly spaced pattern. However, for application of chips to -a floor surface, the distributing nozzle 61 shown in FIG. 12 serves to better reduce velocity so that the chips gently fall onto the surface. Nozzle 61 includes an inlet 62 that is rather Iabruptly fiared to an enlarged outlet portion 63. Chips passing through inlet 62-must go through, or around, funnel shaped diverter 64. If they by-pass the diverter they are directed against the wall of outlet portion 63, and if they pass through the diverter they contact a baflie 65 and are then directed against the outlet portion wall land into the path of thosev chips by-passing the diverter to create a turbulence. The abrupt enlargement of the nozzle between inlet and outlet portions causes a rapid decrease in velocity of the chip entrained air stream and this is further decreased by the turbulence set -up by dividing and recombining the stream. The vanes 66 provide a final means of Iseparating the chips before they are applied. With this nozzle the chips are 'ap-plied at a very low pressure.

For vertical wall surfaces and ceilings the nozzle illustrated in FIG. 13 has been found to be most useful. This nozzle, shown generally at 67, includes an inlet 68 and a diverter 69 for dividing the air stream and for directing I the divided flows toward bales 70 to reduce the overall velocity. The divided fiow is recombined and is guided through a slightly enlarge outlet portion 71 for application. Since the change in cross-sectional area from the inlet portion 68 to the outlet portion 71 is not as great as with the other disclosed nozzles the velocity decrease is less. Furthermore since no vanes are provided the particles tend to form a more coherent mass that is easily directed toward those portions of the walls and ceilings that are not easily reached from the ground or a Workmans scaffolding, etc.

Whereas there are here illustrated and specifically described certain preferred constructions of apparatus which are presently regarded as the best modes of carrying out the invention, it should be understood that various changes may be made and other constructions adopted without departing from the inventive subject matter particularly pointed out and claimed herehelow.

l claim:

1. A dry chip sprayer, comprising a source of air under pressure; a closed tank adapted to hold chips to be sprayed and having an inlet port means thereto, discharge port means therefrom and a curved interior surface having a low point in the path of air entering the tank through the inlet port means, said surface curving upwardly from said low point to said discharge port means; conduit means interconnecting said source of air and the inlet port means of the tank whereby air from said source is directed into the tank; a distributing nozzle, -a hose interconnecting the outlet port means from the tank and the distributing nozzle, whereby air and entrained particles leaving the tank pass through the nozzle; and means for diverting a selected amount of the air passing through the conduit means to atmosphere, including a trigger positioned adjacent the nozzle, a valve in the conduit, said valve having an exhaust port therefrom and a baille therein directing flow of -air toward said exhaust port, a slide adapted to cover said exhaust port, means biasing the slide to a position uncovering said exhaust port, and a cable having one of its ends connected to said slide and its other end iixed to the trigger, whereby pivoting of said trigger pulls the cable to move the slide into position blocking said exhaust port.

2. A dry chip sprayer, comprising a source of air under pressure; a closed tank adapted to hold chips to be sprayed and having inlet port means thereto and discharge port means therefrom and -a curved interior surface having a low point in the path of air entering the tank through the inlet port means, said surface curving upwardly Vfrom said low point to said discharge port means and said inlet means including a header extending from a point adjacent the low point or" the curved interior surface upwardly toward the top of the tank and having a plurality of spaced nozzles along its length, said nozzles being directed toward the curved interior surface; conduit means interconnecting said source of air and the inlet port means of the tank whereby air from said source is directed into the tank; a distributing nozzle; a hose interconnecting the outlet port means from the tank and the distributing nozzle whereby air and entrained particles leaving the tank pass through the nozzle; and means, including a trigger positioned adjacent the nozzle, for diverting a selected amount of the air passing through the conduit means to atmosphere.

3. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 2, further including means to regulate ow through each of the nozzles, said means including operating means extending through the wall of the tank.

4. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 3, wherein the discharge port means from the tank includes a vent positioned against said curved interior surface and having an elongate mouth opening in a direction generally opposite flow from the spaced nozzles, the interior surface curving upwardly from the low spot to the vent and circularly around the inside of the tank from the nozzles to the vent.

5. A dry chip sprayer comprising a source of air under pressure; a closed tank adapted to be lilled with and to hold chips to be sprayed, and having inlet port means thereto, and discharge port means therefrom, and a liner having a curved interior surface with a low point in the path of air entering the tank through the inlet port means and curving upwardly from said low point to a point where said liner is nearest to said discharge port means; conduit means interconnecting said source of air and the inlet port means whereby air from said source is directed into said tank and out through the discharge port means; and means for diverting flow through said conduit means to atmosphere.

6. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 5, further including means to regulate flow through the inlet port means.

7. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 6, wherein the inlet port means includes a header lixed to the outside of the liner and having a plurality of spaced nozzles along its length, said nozzles extending through said liner and at least one of said nozzles being directed toward the low point and the remainder of said nozzles being positioned thereabove; and wherein the means to regulate tlow through the inlet port means comprises a pivoted cover on each nozzle and means for manually moving said pivoted cover into and out of nozzle closing position.

8. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 6, wherein the liner is sealed at its upper edge to the wall of the tank and wherein the inlet port means includes an inlet opening through the wall of the tank, and a plurality of nozzles extending through said liner.

9. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 8, wherein the means to regulate iiow through the inlet port means comprises valve means adapted to block flow through the nozzles, and actuator means automatically responsive to the level of chips in the tank to selectively close the nozzles.

lll. A dry chip sprayer according to claim 9, wherein the valve means includes a bent plate pivotally mounted to rest against said nozzles, with at least one nozzle being open in each pivoted position of the plate; and wherein the actuator means comprises a weight adapted to be positioned on the chips in the tank and a ilexible wire extending through one of said nozzles and interconnecting the weight and the plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,914,817 6/1933 Paige 222-75 2,878,969 3/1959 Griswold 222-193 X 2,934,241 4/1960 Akesson 222-193 X 3,189,061 6/1965 Stockel et al. 30,2-53 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner, STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Examiner, 

1. A DRY CHIP SPRAYER, COMPRISING A SOURCE OF AIR UNDER PRESSURE; A CLOSED TANK ADAPTED TO HOLD CHIPS TO BE SPRAYED AND HAVING AN INLET PORT MEANS THERETO, DISCHARGE PORT MEANS THEREFROM AND A CURVED INTERIOR SURFACE HAVING A LOW POINT IN THE PATH OF AIR ENTERING THE TANK THROUGH THE INLET PORT MEANS, SAID SURFACE CURVING UPWARDLY FROM SAID LOW POINT TO SAID DISCHARGE PORT MEANS; CONDUIT MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID SOURCE OF AIR AND THE INLET PORT MEANS OF THE TANK WHEREBY AIR FROM SAID SOURCE IS DIRECTED INTO THE TANK; A DISTRIBUTING NOZZLE, A HOSE INTERCONNECTING THE OUTLET PORT MEANS FROM THE TANK AND THE DISTRIBUTING NOZZLE, WHEREBY AIR AND ENTRAINED PARTICLES LEAVING THE TANK PASS THROUGH THE NOZZLE; AND MEANS FOR DIVERTING A SELECTED AMOUNT OF THE AIR PASSING THROUGH THE CONDUIT 